Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

This is a discussion on Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review within Official New Car Reviews, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Originally Posted by formel_eins
... Below the system are the climate control knobs , they seem to be a bit ...

... Below the system are the climate control knobs, they seem to be a bit small in size but do their job. The AC vents are really large and chilly. For me they look more retro than modern. All the knobs and AC vents have chrome lining around them which makes the interiors look classy and elegant.

No variant of the POLO comes with ACC IIRC. So u planning to book the petrol Highline ?

i checked Polo at Bangalore. There were quite many potential buyers lined up. SP advised that already around 150 to 200 booked, good number of them booked without TD! People have even made full payment also. A gentleman who had booked Polo without TD also had come to check the car out! Even he was feeling, Polo costs little too much!

In flesh, i got the same feeling that i got with the photo! Looks very plane

SP opened bonnet and showed the engine. Also he knocked the bumper and said, “compare this with all the other cars in segment, they don’t have this "German" build quality i said, "boss i just check Punto and came and build quality is similar"

And i pointed out that, the “guard cover” is missing below the bonnet. Then he said, “feedback has already gone to VW and they will give in next set of cars”
A customer next to me asks SA “ I book the car now, but will I get that heat cover later since mine would be delivered before next set of cars”. SP gave some blah blah reason and escaped. This made me think, if people are just booking VW without even comparing the features offered by other cars in segment! The VW ad on TOI has done wonders to VW Polo for sure

Again, one more SP was telling features of car, I told “all these features are available with Figo for lesser price” he said ”ya, figo is priced well”

I really liked the gear shift of Polo. Too good I must say. Like Skoda Fabia, butter smooth! later checked out Chevy cruze display car and gear shift wasn’t as good as Polo!

The info display of POLO was total turnoff! It looked as if this is implemented with red 8 segment LED display. Looks very cheap.

Also the hand fingers get stuck in rear dickey opener VW badge! I could not find way to open the dickey without fingers getting stuck. Even SA advised same method to open the car! Any thought on same?

Sam issue with AC vents, fingers get stuck between the slots when you try to close the vents!
Interiors are okay! The door thud also very good. Later when I checked Chevy beat, the door closure sound of BEAT sounded “pichik” compared to Polo!

Special mentioned to SPs at VW showroom. They were very courteous and patiently explaining all the features! When I asked about 1.2 TSI or 1.6, they said no information. Also one of SA advised, please take TD of car and give me the feedback. I will pass it on to the company. We had provided feedback on missing “heat guard cover” under bonnet and VW give same in next set of cars!

Diesel would be available only from May!

PS: I felt, If FIAT had separate showroom, even people would have flocked in to check out their cars.

I took a Polo's short TD today. The car looks very nice with nice balanced proportions. Euro style headlamps could have made it a stunner.

I never expected it to have a light and lifeless steering, it spoils the otherwise very good ride and handling package. They only had the petrol car for TD. The 3 cylinder engine does not feel as smooth as an inline 4, though it was reasonably peppy. Gearshift quality is easily the best in the segment. The quality of Interiors and overall quality was good. The space at rear is tight just like Punto, i20 and Swift.

The base version comes with only two colour options i.e Red and White. Its a nice car overall let down by 3 cylinder engines, low equipment levels and lack of dealerships. I am sure it wont sell in the volumes to scare its competition.

Can somebody who has test-driven the Polo comment on how it drives vis-a-vis the Skoda Fabia. Since it is the same engine with 5PS more power, the feel should be similar. Albeit in a slightly different body.

i checked Polo at Bangalore. There were quite many potential buyers lined up.
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Diesel would be available only from May!

PS: I felt, If FIAT had separate showroom, even people would have flocked in to check out their cars.

well there are Chinese phones which offer more features than a typical Nokia phone, so it is not necessary that features come only in high priced products.

LED display didnt look cheap at all, its sharp and outright informative. The font size, brightness was good and the info was arranged in a nice way. The best part is that all the info is displayed in one single display. For example in I20 there are two displays, one in the centre and another on speedo console, so you need to toggle to get the complete info.

how did you manage to stuck your fingers under the VW badge!!!! its a really big badge, it would be interesting to know

for AC vents if you want to close them there is a volume control like roller, so again it is mysterious to understand how did you got stuck????

when I asked about 1.2 TSI, SP didnt give any dates, but he said it will be a sports version with graphics and sports oriented body shape (side skirts, bumper, rear spoiler) and would be atleast about 2 lakhs more than highline petrol.

Last edited by Jaggu : 15th March 2010 at 19:26.
Reason: Please avoid Quoting entire large post for short replies. Thanks

when I asked about 1.2 TSI, SP didnt give any dates, but he said it will be a sports version with graphics and sports oriented body shape (side skirts, bumper, rear spoiler) and would be atleast about 2 lakhs more than highline petrol.

interesting news - this could be well worth the wait - hope they didn't mean 1.2 tDi vs tSi

checked out the Polo in trivandrum. Test drives were not available yet so drooling around was the only option!!

The car looks great in the skin. In terms of design it's next to the Swift in my book. Great fit and finish and nice consistent panel gaps.

Interior quality is good and again all plastic edges well finished and fitted.
BIG glovebox!!

Rear seat felt very comfy to sit in though I had doubts about seating 3 abreast. Front seats - the Swift still wins hands down. The squab angle is not enough and as a result your underthigh does not get much support.

I'm 5'11'' and the steering hit my knees when I place my feet on the clutch. This happened in one of the models and I was puzzled when in another Polo it felt fine . Well...the answer was to adjust the steering for reach - pull it more towards me and no problems after that.